The Early Years
by GlitteringSnow
Summary: Detective Anthony DiNozzo meets one Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. FINISHED
1. Another One Bites The Dust

**Chapter One - Another One Bites The Dust**

Detective Anthony DiNozzo didn't know if the man in front of him was just plain stupid, or deliberately being annoying. He decided it was a bit of both.

"If you don't move out of my right now, I'm going to arrest you" Tony said calmly. When the man didn't move, he pulled out his handcuffs and this was when the perp decided to run.

Tony immediately went into action, using his long legs to sprint after him. "I have a degree in Physical Education, this will not end well for you!" He shouted as he gained ground. He extended his legs as fast as he could, and as he got close enough tackled the suspect. Rolling him onto his stomach, Tony got his handcuffs out once more before slapping them around his wrists.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you do say..." Reading the rest of the Miranda rights, Tony walked his newly arrested friend back to the squad car that had just pulled up. "Thanks for the help" His partner, one Danny Pierce had remained sitting in the drivers seat of the car while Tony chased the perp.

Danny shrugged "I knew you had it, you're the one always bragging about your degree in PE" Tony grinned and opened the back door, helping his criminal into the car.

"Don't forget the tube socks"

"Oh, how on earth could I forget about the tube sock with the constant talking about them, you're like a walking, talking, tube sock advert"

"Well if the sock fits" Danny gave Tony a look. "What? It wasn't that bad" Danny said nothing, watching as Tony walked around the front of the car to get into the passenger seat. "Okay" He spoke as he opened the door and strapped himself in "It may have been a little cheesy but it deserved a laugh" Danny tried to keep his unamused facade up, but failed when Tony gave one of his infamous grins.

"You're such an idiot" Danny ruffeled Tony's hair affectionately.

"Hey, don't touch the hair"

It took a few minutes to drive back to the house, Tony elected to search it while Danny stayed with the runner. He left with a "be careful" aimed at his back, he waved off these concerns before pulling his gun out of it's holster as he nudged the door open.

The house looked relatively clean and modest, there didn't seem to be anything amiss. But Anthony DiNozzo knew that appearances could be deceiving so he pushed onwards, through the kitchen where nothing strange was lurking and past the bedrooms that also looked clean.

He walked back into the hallway and on a particular floorboard he elicted a squeak. He stopped and looked down.

"A squeaker" He muttered, crouching down to see if he could pull it up. It gave way at the touch of his fingers, easily being pulled up which showed that this was a motion frequently used. He moved it out of the way and reached down into the hole pulling out a box. In the box was a key.

Tony stood back up, after replacing the floorboard, and looked around for what the key could fit into. He moved over to a big painting of a ship on it. "How many movies have I seen where there was a safe behind a painting" He moved the painting, leaning it up on the wall, and smiled when there was a safe, clear as day staring back at him.

Inserting the key, the safe clicked open and Tony was horrified when he saw what was in it. He gulped before closing the safe once more.

This was worse than he realised.

After making a call to the station the house was soon crawling with cops. The guy who owned this house had been identified as one Robert Hunter, and he had been taken down to the station to await Danny and Tony's return.

Tony was currently taking pictures of what he'd found in the safe, several pairs of eyes stared back at him all from their rotting heads. Fingers in jars were to his left and he snapped a picture of those as well.

He sighed, they were going to have to match the heads to bodies and inform the relatives of these seven men. The smell coming from the safe was horrid, Tony breathed as little and as shallow as possible but soon had to leave to get some fresh air. He knew it was going to be a bad day as soon as he woke up that morning, but he never imagined it would be this bad.

He was happy however, that this guy was off the streets. No one else would be hurt by him, thanks to Tony. He shuddered to think who else could have died if they hadn't caught this man. Tony shook his head, pushing the depressing thoughts out of his mind and focusing on the task at hand. He walked back to the crime scene approaching Danny.

"Hey, Tony, do you think this is the work of the Baltimore Slayer?"

Tony nodded "Once we've matched the DNA to the bodies we found then we can confirm it"

/

One everything had been bagged and tagged, and the safe taken out of the wall, they finally made their way to the station. "Our suspect in interrogation?" Tony asked the officer at reception.

"Yeah, room 2" Tony and Danny walked into interrogation, Danny took the chair while Tony stood in the corner. Danny pulled out a file, filled with pictures of the contents of the safe, and placed in on the desk. He pointed at the first picture.

"We found your little safe" Hunter didn't give anything away, except for the fact that his eyes narrowed a tiny bit. You wouldn't have seen it if you weren't looking for it, but Anthony DiNozzo was.

After it was clear he wasn't going to say anything Danny continued "There's only one way your getting out of this station and that's in handcuffs. We got you man, we got your prints, we matched your heads to the bodies. You're the Baltimore Slayer. I just want to know, why'd you do it?"

Hunter resolutely stared at the table, so Tony came around from behind him and whispered into his ear "I think it's cause they wouldn't let him join thier little club"

They exchanged looks at Hunter's head turned to look at Tony "Yeah, we know all about your little attempt to join. Didn't work out so well did it. So did you do it cause you were angry? Were you embarressed?" Tony lowered his voice "Was your pride hurt?" The disgust radiated from his voice. "You know what? We don't need a confession, we already got you" He walked over and knocked on the glass "Bring 'em in"

/

"Another?" Tony looked up to the bartender and nodded.

Danny gave him a grin "Hey, this is supposed to be a celebration! One less dirtbag on the street" Tony gave him a grin, and they toasted.

"One less dirtbag" Tony muttered.

"You know what we need? Shots" Danny motioned the bartender over.

"I can't man, I'm driving"

Danny scoffed "I'm not" He downed his shot.

Tony grinned, hoping that tomorrow something other than serial killers would come to his attention.

You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.


	2. Gibbs

**AN: I just want to say that i'm not American so I probably wouldn't have used the right words in some parts of the story. If you do see any mistakes please tell me, and I have made up some street names, sorry about that. **

**Chapter Two - ****Gibbs**

DiNozzo woke up from his surprisingly refreshing nights sleep. It was the best sleep he'd had in a long time, and it must have had something to do with getting Hunter off the streets. He stretched out on his bed, feeling happy and content. A feeling he hadn't had in a long time.

He strolled over to his bathroom, wincing at the black bags under his eyes and ran the tap. Brushing his teeth he started up his shower, checking the temperature before spitting.

Just as he was about to get into the shower, his phone rang. He sighed before grabbing a towel, wrapping it around himself before hunting for his phone. He picked it up on the fourth ring. "Detective Anthony DiNo-"

"Hey, we got a case"

"Danny, you never let me finish saying my name anymore. I think this is that moment in our friendship where we become bastards to each other and no one gives a crap"

Danny sighed on the other end of the phone "Just get here"

Tony grinned as he heard the dial tone, if there was one thing that could brighten his day it was annoying Danny. He rushed back into the bathroom to have the quickest shower he'd ever had, grabbing his car keys and drove to the station.

Pushing open the door, he was greeted by mutliple hello's and a few pats on the back as he walked past. It was safe to say that Tony was very popular within his department.

"DiNozzo, how you been man?" One of the other detectives walked towards him and clapped him on the back. Tony nodded at him, before moving over to where Danny was waiting for him, evidently impatient as he had crossed his arms and was tapping his foot on the ground.

Tony walked up to him, annoying grin and words on his lips but stopped short when he noticed his boss standing next to him. "Sir?"

"DiNozzo, about time. What took you so long?" He started walking towards his office so Tony hastened to walk with him. He opened his mouth to reply "Never mind. You got a case" They walked into the chief's office where he motioned for them both to take a seat.

"This is a very sensitive case" The chief placed his hands together and pointed them to DiNozzo "So no messing around"

"Me?" Tony pointed to himself and smiled "What have I ever done?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, Sir"

He was handed a case file, on top was a picture of a man wearing a scarf and a disgusting hat clearly being used to hide the balding hair, if the small amount of extra forehead was anything to go on. The picture was clearly taken from survaillence footage as it was in black and white, and the man was looking far off into the distance.

"What we have here is the leader of one of the gangs here in Baltimore. They've been extremely active lately and we want to know if you" He looked at Tony "can get in there"

"You mean undercover?"

"Yeah"

He and Danny exchanged looks, speaking without words. "Yeah. I can do that"

"Good, because our intelligence says that their looking to expand"

"And you want me to stop that from happening" Tony realised.

"Just gain thier trust first, climb the ladder and then once your in get me a confession"

Tony stood up "On it" he and Danny walked out of the chief's office, Tony immediately diving into the folder and learning everything he could about the organisation that he would soon be apart of.

/

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was currently in his basement, drinking bourbon and working on his new boat. Only a phone ringing interrupted his peaceful oasis, once he had located the device he squinted at the caller id and flipped the phone open "Yeah, Gibbs"

He listened intently to the man on the other side. "Got it" The phone was placed into his jacket pocket and he made his way out of his basement, leaving the door unlocked behind him.

He got into his car and by the time he got to the navy yard he had violated at least seven traffic laws but no one had stopped him. He made his way up to Director Morrow's office where he was to be given his orders for the day.

"Ah, Gibbs. Just the man I wanted to see" Morrow sat behind his desk with a rather large file in front of him.

"Well you did call me, Director"

Morrow waved his comment off "Yes, yes. Sit down." Once he was satisfied that he had Gibbs' full attention he launched into the reason he had called him here "We have a bit of a problem"

He hesitated to continue, fearing Gibbs' temper that was sure to erupt soon, but no enough that he wasn't going to say it "We've got a case down in Baltimore. Two dead marines" Gibbs nodded but furrowed his eyebrows.

"Okay, you couldn't have told me this over the phone?"

"You need to take two other agents with you" This was what had Tom Morrow scared of telling Gibbs. Knowing the man as well as he did, Morrow knew that Gibbs was not going to enjoy taking people he didn't trust to a case with him.

"Director, I don't have two agents" Gibbs stared hard at Morrow, dreading what he was about to suggest.

"I have personally chosen two agents who I think would work well with you" Morrow was lying through his teeth, so far, apart from Gibbs' mentor Franks, no one worked well with Gibbs because the man didn't let them. His sharp tongue sent more than one Probie running.

"I don't need any agents" Gibbs protested, knowing he'd lost this but wasn't willing to stop fighting against it.

"It's protocol, either you take them, or you don't get this case"

Gibbs gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at Morrow who wasn't going to back down like he wanted to inside. The staring contest lasted a good five minutes before the phone on Morrow's desk rang, without turning his back he picked it up.

"Director Morrow" He paused a small smile touched his lips as he looked at Gibbs.

"Send them up"

Gibbs glare turned up a notch. It didn't take long for the door to open, and Gibbs glare turned to the two agents that were nevously waiting to be told to come in. Morrow came to stand next to him "Play nice" He muttered before smiling at the new agents.

/

Anthony DiNozzo was also glaring.

Danny rolled his eyes "Come on, I didn't choose it" He dangled the tracksuit in front of Tony.

"I'm not wearing that"

"C'mon, you'll wear tube socks but not a tracksuit?"

"Tube socks have a purpose"

"So does this tracksuit" Tony pouted before taking it and trying it on, wincing as the cheap fabric touched his skin. If his father saw him now, he would disown him... again. He shook his head before smoothing down the jacket, he pushed his hair so that it looked slicked back and decided he could pull off looking like a dirtbag, he let his hair go so that it sprang back into place.

He didn't want to look like a dirtbag for more time than necessary. Danny grinned when he caught sight of him.

"Don't you scuff up well" Tony sneered, taking the gold chain that Danny handed to him. He scratched his chin, not liking the stubble that he was allowing to grow.

"So what's my name?" Tony asked, trying different ways in which he wear a baseball cap. He decided to go for the backwards look, he'd seen it on quite a lot of the gang members and thought that it might help him fit in more.

"From now on you're Anthony DiCabre" Tony nodded and sighed. He would never like these sorts of clothes, they were too wannabe for him. He wanted to be taken seriously and there was no way that was going to happen if he looked like an overgrown child with a shiny object obsession.

"Anthony DiCabre has bad taste in clothes"

Danny scoffed "Do I need to bring up the tube socks again?"

"You bring those up way too often, I think you want some" Danny scoffed and pushed Tony into the wall. "Hey, don't worry man. I'll get you some for Christmas"

Tony sighed once more as the tracksuit became a part of his new identity, he made sure that you couldn't tell he had a mic on him, looking down and fiddling with the sleeve.

"Stop it Tony, your messing up the frequency" He heard in his ear. He immediately stopped fiddling. He had been told by the Chief that one of the suppliers was supposed to be on the corner of Richmond and Salvete Avenue. He looked from side to side seeing no one until finally around the corner came a shady looking culprit. Tony slowly walked over to the man, casually putting his hands in his pockets.

"Hey there" he nodded. "you Roberto?"

The shady looking man nodded and came closer. "Dicabre?" Tony nodded.

"This way" Tony gave another look around the street before following Roberto down an alley. It was looking a bit too cliche for Tony's liking but he went with it.

"Word on the street is you wanna join the Reds?" Tony nodded. "Your gonna have to talk to the boss"

Tony smirked "Lead the way"

/

Gibbs was not happy with his new agents. What was Morrow thinking saddling him with these two idiots, they always wanted to one up one another with no regard for Gibbs' increasingly murderous temper. He was almost at his breaking point but luckily for the two agents, they had reached Baltimore.

Gibbs decided to drop 1 and 2, he hadn't remembered their names, off at the hotel before making his way to the police station.

Pushing open the doors he made his way over to the guy working reception.

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs, I'm here to see Chief inspector Connors"

The man behind the desk casually went to his computer, taking his time just because he could and also because he could see how wound up the man was. He stopped and shook his head, he'd been spending way too much time with DiNozzo.

"Yeah, his office is straight through the doors, past all the desks and second on the left" Gibbs nodded and without giving the man another glance walked away.

The receptionist grinned. DiNozzo would have loved to wind this guy up. His smile faded, too bad he was on a case, it sure would have been something to see.

Gibbs opened the door to the Chief's office without knocking, startling the man behind the desk. "Chief Connors?" He nodded. "I'm Agent Gibbs, NCIS. You got two dead marines, I'm here to take over"

The only reason why Connor's jaw wasn't on the floor was because he had been forewarned about Gibbs. "That's not going to happen" Gibbs' jaw clenched. "These marines have been linked to an ongoing case"

"These men are marines which automatically makes this NCIS jurisdiction" Gibbs snarled.

Connors shook his head "You don't understand, this ongoing case has one of my men in danger. I can't hand this over to you. I don't care how much you growl or glare at me it isn't going to happen" By this point the two men were standing nose to nose, neither one of them wanting to give up until the door opened and Danny's head popped in. He was looking straight down at the files he was holding and had therefore not seen or noticed the tension filled room.

"DiNozzo's in" He looked up and grinned, before it slid off his face as he noticed there was someone talking to his boss, someone he probably shouldn't had said that in front of.

Connors looked gobsmacked. "Already? I knew he was good, but damn. I gave you this case a few hours ago"

Danny grinned, proud of his partner "Well, you know DiNozzo"

Connors smiled "I sure do" He snapped out of it, realising Gibbs was still there and going back to their staring contest. Danny looked awkwadly between the two before backing slowly out of the room.

He did not want to be either of those two. Danny left the station, got in his car and went for pizza. Pepperoni, sausage and extra cheese.

* * *

Review? I would really appreciate some opinions on how well you think this story is going, or what you think needs improving.


	3. Trust Issues

**Chapter Three - ****Trust Issues**

Although Tony's meeting with the boss went fairly well, it would have been stupid to assume that they trusted him at all. After all, he'd only known them for a few hours. Tony had, however, been given a small job to do.

He shoved the package deeper into his jacket pocket, rejoicing in the feel of expensive fabric and kept his head up, not wanting anyone to assume he wasn't as confident as he was pretending to be. He walked past a few black sedans, getting a small glimpse into the window seeing an couple of guys watching him, dressed in suits. He snorted, way to be discreet.

They had to be feds. No one else is that obvious on a stakeout or whatever they were attempted to do. Tony didn't glance back as he carried on walking, concentrating on where he was supposed to deliver his package, and when he could check in with Danny.

He casually looked around as he neared his meeting spot, double checking to make sure that no one had followed him and no one was about to bust in on the deal, there was nothing worse than screwing up an undercover operation, he rubbed his chest remembering his last. Technically that time wasn't his fault, one of the new cops wanted to try his hand at being the hero, suffice to say that cop was quickly fired.

There was nothing worse than a cop that was in it just for the glory. Nothing.

Tony was in it for the babes and the action, at least that's what everyone else thought. He never denied it.

Walking into the warehouse, Tony scanned the room for cameras and found three hidden in the corners of the ceiling, he could have scoffed at how well the 'disguises' we were working. He knew that he was looking for a man named Hernandez so he walked past the guys that were looking at him suspiciously, until one of them grabbed his arm.

"Who are you?"

Tony gave a huge fake smile and laughed "I'm Tony DiCabre" He held his hand out for a shake, his grin not fading as he awkwardly put it back down when it was declined. "Here for the _special delivery_" Tony's smile still did not fall even when the goon attempted to intimidate him, in fact it made him smile wider. "I'm here to see Hernandez" He raised his eyebrows and put on his first stern look which made the goon stop his attempt at delivery and back up a step. Tony smirked inside at his effect on him but on the outside kept his cool facade.

The paleness of the other man skin's alerted Tony to the fact that he was probably being a bit too intimidating so he smiled once more, nodding his head to the office where he knew Hernandez would be. He didn't want for any reply and made his way over, and knocked once. He opened the door and ignored the annoyed expression on the other mans face.

"Hernandez?" He nodded and stood from his chair.

"And you are?"

"DiCabre. I've got something for you" Tony took the package out of his jacket pocket and placed it on the desk, in the middle of the two of them. Tony had gotten a good feel of the package and realised that it was probably some sort of drug, it was too small to be a firearm and too big to be anything other than drugs.

Hernandez smirked and took the package, placing it in one of the drawers in his desk. "Yeah, boss said this was on it's way. Good job man" Tony smirked and sat down in front of the desk.

"Thankyou" Hernandez ended up pouring him a drink and he set to finding out more about this whole operation, underneath his charming smile were eyes revealing a sharp and sophisticated mind that was happy with it's new task.

A task it would do well.

/

Gibbs had watched as his suspect walked into a warehouse, not coming out until two hours later and by that point he was feeling grouchy and impatient. He wanted coffee but knew that he couldn't rely on his two new agents to do a decent job of anything so had to wait until he could get it himself, which looked like it wasn't going to be any time soon.

The man, identified as Anthony DiCabre, had walked out of the warehouse with a disturbing grin on his face that Gibbs wanted to smack off. He narrowed his eyes as he stealthily followed his suspect for two blocks where he turned into an alleyway and Gibbs had to get out of the car to follow. He decided it would be too obvious and might blow his cover, so made his way back to the hotel where his two agents were waiting for him.

He opened the door to his hotel room, glad he was away from his new 'team' not wanting to have to endure their ongoing stupidity that made him want to shoot them. Gibbs hated paperwork.

He had been wondering about getting a new agent but he didn't want someone who was new, he wanted to be able to trust the person that would be out with him on the field, he didn't want to die just because some newbie had bad aim or couldn't fire a gun. Gibbs settled into his bed, wishing that he was in his basement building his precious boat. At least that would give him something productive to do.

He took out the casefiles he had, attempting to locate on Anthony DiNozzo who was apparently helping out with this investigation. They knew that it was the Red gang that had killed his marines but not the specifics and that was what Gibbs needed to catch the killer and get a conviction. He wanted the families to know that they had their vengance and that they could rest easy knowing that whoever killed their loved one was in prison.

He would catch this killer if it killed him.

If DiNozzo had any useful information he wanted to know what it was and he wanted to know now. Gibbs resolved to find the man tomorrow, he would ask his partner, Danny. He seemed sharp enough to realise that you don't mess with a man like Gibbs, espically when he wanted to know something.

He narrowed his eyes as the image of DiCabre came back into his head, there was something off about him. He would get one of the idiots to get some background info on him, you can never know your enemy too much.

Gibbs' eyes slowly shut as he gave into his exhaustion that had been plauging him for the past three days. He couldn't live on coffee no matter how much he believed he could.

/

Agent Wilson and Turner were waiting outside of Gibbs' room in the morning, neither wanting to be the one that knocked on the door in fear of getting reprimanded by their legendary master.

"You do it" Wilson pushed his partner closer to the door, placing himself several feet behind. Turner gulped before knocking twice quickly. He stared at his hand as though it had betrayed him before removing it from the door and backing away.

Gibbs opened the door, and scowled at his agents who were cowering next to each other. He sighed before shutting the door behind him, giving his folders to one of the idiots. He didn't say a word as he walked down the corridor, cutting off Agent Wilson who was going to attempt to greet his new boss, watching Gibbs walk away from them.

Gibbs waited impatiently for them to get into the car, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as they gingerly climbed in, still green from the journey to Baltimore with Gibbs' driving. They had just enough time to put thier seatbelts on before Gibbs gunned it out of the parking lot.

They arrived at the police station twenty minutes later, they would have been faster but the main road was blocked off so Gibbs had to make a detour. Stumbling out of the back seat, neither had been brave enough to sit in the front, Agents Wilson and Turner looked very distressed. Gibbs wondered why people thought that his driving was bad, he looked back at his agents, the taller of the two looked like he was going to be sick.

Gibbs smirked as he walked into the station going straight to Connors office, doing a double take when he saw Danny at one of the desks, and so changed his direction. He waited for Danny to notice him, getting slightly annoyed when he took too long, so he kicked his desk. Danny startled and turned towards him, eyes narrowing when they landed on Gibbs.

"Can I help you?" Danny didn't know who the man in front of him was, but could remember him from his bosses office yesterday.

"I want to know about Detective DiNozzo" Gibbs stared straight at Danny, who sighed.

"I can't tell you anything about him, other than he is currently unavailable at this moment in time"

"Well make him available" Gibsbs snarled.

"It's not as simple as that, he's on a case" Danny stood up, wanting to face this man down as he protected his partner.

Gibbs scoffed "My case"

"Not quite"

/

Tony was oblivious to the conversation that was currently being held about him, he was too busy trying not to lose the game of pool he was playing. He was losing badly to another member of the gang called Bandit, clearly a nickname but Tony hadn't been told the reason behind it yet.

Tony was actually rather good at pool but he was trying to get on everyone's good side.

"Come on Tony, this is too easy" Bandit crowed.

Tony smirked and potted the remaining balls that were on the table, grinning at Bandit's shocked face which soon turned into a giant grin.

"Whoa man, you've been holding back on me" He clapped Tony on the back and went to the bar to get them both a drink, hurrying back to give Tony his beer. "Nicely played" Bandit clinked his beer against Tony's and gulped it down. Tony sipped his, laughing along and being patted on the back by those that were watching the game, who'd previously been sneering at him.

And Danny said his ability to hustle people at pool was going to cost him. Seems that once again the DiNozzo charm has proven too hard to ignore. He watched as Bandit and the others started up another game, smiling and getting up to join when they called him over.

He was just too good.

* * *

**Review? **

**I would like to thank everyone who has favourited and followed this story, it means a lot to know that this story is doing well and has support from the readers. **

**It was my birthday on the 20th so that's why this chapter has taken a bit longer to be posted, and all of my other stories will also be updated soon. **


	4. Discoveries

**Chapter Four - Discoveries**

Gibbs was not a happy man. The two idiots that had been assigned to him were being particularly annoying today, he had asked for the background information on DiNozzo but it had taken them around an hour to tell him that they had nothing. Danny hadn't said anything of use either and so he had nothing to go on, he just hoped that this DiNozzo guy was good at his job because he wanted justice and if he couldn't get it everyone was going to get a Gibbs glare of death.

Shooting people was too much hassle.

He might just take his old mentors way of doing it, headslaps worked on him, look how far he went with his career. Problem is headslaps were special to Gibbs, they reminded him of the old days. He just had to find someone that was worth it, someone who would be ableto withstand Gibbs' methods of teaching.

He wanted to find this person, he glanced over at the two cowering agents. He wanted to find them soon.

He sighed, moving over to the desk he had been given at the Baltimore police station, he managed to start the computer up which for him was quite an accomplishment. He didn't look at anyone as he struggled to bring up the records he was looking for and when he eventually managed this task he had to squint and look forward, not wanting to admit that he may need glasses.

Gibbs was never going to admit that. He read the first part of the report and gave it up, searching for the paper copy, finding it under a pile of files that was sitting at the desk. He didn't appreciate whoever's desk this was leaving it in such a state. He rifled through a few more things before finding one thing that was similar with each.

The signiture at the botton was by Anthony D. DiNozzo. Gibbs smiled.

/

Tony sighed, wanting anything to go back to his own house instead of having to wake up at Bandit's place. They had all crashed there after drinking way too much last night, or in Tony's case, pretended to.

He was a good actor.

He got up off the couch and moved into the kitchen, hitting Bandit on the back which made him jump and spin around. Tony grinned and stole his coffee, making a face at how bitter it was and added a lot of sugar.

Bandit scowled and set to making another cup for himself.

"Where'd everybody go?" Tony asked.

"They got called in" Tony kept his expression straight.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, something big's going down on the docks" Bandit said, not even questioning whether Tony could be trusted with this information. Tony must have been better than he thought, and it's not often Tony doesn't realise how good he is at something.

"Sounds fun" He grinned, Bandit turned to him and stared at him. Tony's grin didn't fall.

"You want in?" He asked casually after averting his gaze, and finishing making his coffee.

"Yeah I do" Tony's eyes sparkled mischeviously and Bandit grinned seeing this. He nodded and took a sip of his drink, wincing at how hot it was.

"I'll see what I can do" They exchanged grins and Tony was surprised to find that he seemed to actually like Bandit, one day he would find out his real name. He did feel a bit about calling a grown man, only a year younger than Tony, a stupid nickname.

He pushed these thoughts out of his head and took another gulp of coffee, smiling on the inside at how easy his mission was going so far. He looked at the clock and almost choked on his drink.

"Is that the time?" Tony panicked "I've got to go, see you later buddy" He grabbed his jacket off the floor and ran out of the door. Once he had made it down the stairs he walked normally, attempting to look casual for the black car that was waiting there. He didn't look at the car, just walked past, ignoring the way it followed him down the street until it went ahead of him and stopped.

A man got out and opened the back door for him. Tony weighed his options but sensing this, the man flashed the gun he had strapped to his belt, Tony eyes followed the movement and went to get in the car. Sliding in, he looked at the person he was sat next to.

/

Gibbs had read through most of DiNozzo's reports from cases he had worked on. He was very pleased to know that the man was not an idiot, he clearly knew what he was doing. Gibbs put everything back into it's disorganised mess, and by that he just spread them back out over the desk. He got up and went to find the man he had been wanting to meet for a long time now. Well, a long time in Gibbs' mind, he was a very impatient man.

From reading the files, he had discovered a thing or two about DiNozzo, he was sharp, intelligent and a lot better than Agents 1 and 2 who he beckoned to. They looked shocked that he had actually given them any attention and practically ran towards him. Gibbs glared at the two of them, why did he have to get the team full of probies?

"You," He pointed at the taller one "get me into the computer, find out everything about Anthony DiNozzo's current status," He demanded, watching as his agent set to work "and you," He glared at the other one "go and get me some coffee."

Agent Wilson blinked at the order before moving across the room where there was a coffee machine. Gibbs stopped him before he got close to it "That's not coffee." Wilson nodded and set off to find a starbucks or something.

"Sir?" Gibbs walked over to the computer and got his first glimpse of DiNozzo, he was smiling widely into the camera, straight white teeth giving him the glimpse of a school boy, he had dark brown styled hair and green eyes. His italian heritage was obvious and Gibbs smirked when he saw the red box next to his name which said Undercover.

That's why no one was telling him what was going on, he supposed it was lucky that he had been giving DiNozzo's computer to use otherwise he wouldn't have found this information. He clicked on the button, being led to details of what the undecover operation entailed. He had almost finished when Danny came around the corner and saw what he was doing, he lunged for the power button, disrupting the rest of Gibbs' reading.

"What do you think your doing?" He hissed.

"Finding out what's going on with my case." Gibbs calmly replied.

"Look, you can't just go around reading classified files."

"I wouldn't have to if you'd just told me."

Danny sighed "Well I suppose now you know, you can help."

/

Abby was sipping happily on her Caf-Pow when she got the call. She picked up her phone and started saying her usual greeting "You have reached the lair of Abby Scuito, prepare for,"

She was rudely cut off with an "Abbs." But as she realised that it was her silver fox calling she didn't care so much.

"Gibbs! I've been waiting for a call from you since you got there, you said you'd call, Ducky was not very impressed. He said "Jethro always-"

"Abbs!"

"Sorry."

"I need you to find out about a gang called the Reds in Baltimore."

"On it BossMan!" Gibbs hung up, but Abby didn't mind having been used to it for many years. She wheeled her chair over to her computer happily typing away when she decided to call Ducky. Once she mentioned Gibbs' name he broke off into a story about how this reminded him of a time when he was at university. Abby sighed patiently and waited out the man's story, also accustom to Ducky's stories, usually she liked them but she actually had stuff to talk to him about this time.

"Sorry to interrupt Ducky, but Gibbs called earlier. Thought you might want to know."

"Oh, that's good news. Did he tell you how the case is going?"

"No just asked me to look things up for him."

"Same old Jethro" After a few more minutes of talking Ducky decided to join her in the lab. The music was back on and so Abby didn't notice when Ducky arrived, it was only when he went and turned the music off that she whirled around, black pigtails twirling, somehow avoiding hitting herself in the face and not falling over in her ridiculously high heels.

"Ducky! Did you know that this gang in Baltimore called the Reds, I know, rubbish name, they have at least a hundred members of low level dealers. I've managed to find out the names of most of them, there's a couple of new guys as well. Like this DiCabre guy," Abby brought up a picture. "He's apparently one of the fasest risers ever, like literally you should see some of the reports of this guy." Abby continued to rattle off information as such a rate that Ducky could no longer keep up with her. He went over to her desk and stole the chair sitting and listening patiently.

/

It seemed that Tony was having a conversation with someone who was higher up than he thought. He wondered why the man had decided to pick him up, but then shook the thought out of his head, it didn't matter at this moment.

"DiCabre," The man smirked, taking a drag of his cigar. "you've caught my attention."

"And that's a good thing?" Tony asked, trying not to cough at all the smoke that was in the car.

"This is good for you," He smirked again. "You're one of my new recruits." Tony realised what this meant, there was a different leader. At least he had something interesting to report now.

"Yes sir."

"I'm Julio Fernando." He grinned, eyes twinkling showing a slightly insane glint to them. He took another puff of his cigar, opening the window slightly which Tony appreciated because he was finding it difficult to breathe.

"So did you want something from me? Or just wanted to chat?" Tony grinned, hoping he wasn't going to set the man off, but it seemed Fernando liked him.

"I want you to do something for me, I want to know if I can trust you."

This was it.

* * *

**Review? **


	5. Napkin Notes

**Chapter Five - Napkin Notes **

Tony was dropped off on the corner of the road that led to the bar that he had been at last night with the boys, he walked past it and instead went into the diner next door, ignoring the eyes of a group of men who were watching him, he couldn't be sure if they were part of the gang but he didn't want to mess up so he chose the easy option of not finding out. He was still in a bit of shock about what he has just found out and has been asked to do. It's not like he'd never been undercover before but he usually found it a bit more difficult to become part of the gang and this showed just how new and inexperienced these guys were.

Tony shook all of these thoughts to the back is his mind and smiled when the waitress walked over to him. He took the menu from her with a smile and flipped through the first page going straight for the burgers, he definately needed something really unhealthy to keep him going. He stared into space as the waitress came back with his food and drink, snapping out of it when the sleep reached him noise and his mouth began to water.

He was about to tuck in when he realised there was someone standing above him. He pretended not to notice this new man and took a massive bite of his burger, juices ran down the side of his face and he grabbed a napkin quickly wiping it away. In reality he was scanning the man for any weapons and determining if he was going to cause any trouble. When be figured he couldn't put it off any longer he looked up.

"Can I help you?"

The silver haired man smirked "Yes, you can. Detective." Tony's eyes widened and he automatically reached for his concealed knife, the man in front of him put his hands up into the universal sign of surrender.

"I think you may have the wrong person." Tony smiled, practically baring his teeth as he noticed the two other men who were still at their table fidgeting.

The man in front of him looked amused, nodding his head and turned to walk away but not without leaving a napkin on the table. Tony swept it under his plate before picking up his burger again, he ignored the three men, the one who had approached him was eating his steak without talking to the other two who seemed to be in awe of the man they were sitting next to. Tony pondered these thoughts as he chewed.

Who was this man? He thought about the napkin under his plate, he wanted to read it now but knew that it was probably not the best idea. He figured if the guy knew he was a detective and hadn't shot him yet that meant he was on his side. Sure it wasn't procedure to approach another cop when he was undercover but that just meant it was urgent.

He chanced a glance over his shoulder almost flinching when the man's bright blue eyes connected with his own. He schooled his face into a grin and waved before turning back around. He slipped the napkin into his jacket pocket, feeling it slightly before picking up his fork and spearing a few fries. He heard a loud shout from the door and grinned at Bandit as he stumbled in, dragging along another boy who he had in a headlock.

"DiCabre!" Tony waved the two over and realised that Bandit was quite drunk, the obvious stumble and slur alerted him to this fact. "Tooooony." He cackled, stealing a few of his fries. This of course led to an epic fork battle.

/

Gibbs couldn't believe his luck when he noticed DiNozzo coming into the diner that he had picked, his Agents were deciding what to order whereas Gibbs had already decided on his favourite and so had looked around the diner. Gibbs watched as he waved at the waitress who blushed slightly, and made his way to one of the booths. He didn't pay attention attention to their group and this allowed Gibbs to survey the man. He looked really skinny, his clothes were hanging off his frame slightly. He had ruffled hair, like he had ran his hand through it many times and most of all he looked tired.

Gibbs decided to approach him, he pulled his napkin closer and looked around for a pen. When he couldn't find one in his pockets he stole one out of one of the idiots pockets, he ripped the lid off and scribbled his message. Squinting at it, he decided that would have to do and he moved out of the booth, sidestepping the waitress as she came with his steak and whatever the other two had ordered.

He moved to stand above DiNozzo as he bit into his burger, looking in amusement as juice dribbled down the man's chin, this made Gibbs think about how young DiNozzo looked and how he shouldn't be in this business.

"Can I help you?" Gibbs snapped out of his trance and smirked at the green eyes that were looking at him, guarded and yet still giving off a friendly vibe. It was no wonder why DiNozzo was chosen for this task.

Gibbs felt like he managed to maintain this vibe throughout thier short conversation, looking out of the window and seeing two of the gang members that DiNozzo had reportedly gotten close to and wrapped it up. He dropped his napkin note stealthily and managed to get back into his booth and started to eat his steak before the two entered the diner. He saw the wave that DiNozzo directed at him, and tried to tell him to look at the note later through his eyes, but he wasn't sure this had worked as he cut into his steak.

The loud entrance of the two made it easier for Gibbs to ignore the two agents next to him, who were squabbling over the salt and pepper shakers, he wanted to hit them but he didn't want to draw unwanted attention to the three of them. He chewed on his steak as he watched what seemed to be a fight with forks over fries and he felt what seemed like protectiveness swell inside of him, DiNozzo reminded him of himself when he was younger. He felt nostalgia and sighed, cutting another bit of steak and putting it his mouth, glaring at the two idiots beside him and found himself wishing they were more like DiNozzo. He wanted to facepalm when DiNozzo chose that moment to lunge across the table, laughing his head off and grappling with the older of the two who sat across from him as the younger watched them both with awe.

He shook his head, he hoped DiNozzo could reach his slightly unfounded expectations. His blue eyes watched the grin that stretched across DiNozzo's face and felt his lip twitch. Maybe his expectations weren't so unfounded after all.

His hand twitched as Agent Wilson decided to attempt to engage him in conversation, his eye soon following as the other idiot decided it was a good idea to join in. He felt a growl rising in his chest as Wilson laughed, thinking he was joking. There was no way these two would survive with him, they were practically beginning to be headslapped, and when DiNozzo and his friends left he would be more than happy to oblige.

* * *

**AN: Okay, so Gibbs and DiNozzo's first meeting, took me a long time to write because I had a serious case of writers block but this chapter eventually decided it wanted to be written so I just decided to go with the flow. Hope you all enjoy it and feel free to review :) **

**I would also like to apologise if I've put 'chips' instead of 'fries' anywhere, I have had another look but it is possible that I've missed any British terms that I may have accidently used. **


	6. Phone Call Challenge

**Chapter Six - Phone Call Challenge.**

It didn't take Tony more than a minute to open the napkin that he had in his pocket when he was finally alone. He had left Bandit and his friend who had been introduced as Bandit's little brother Freddy at the cafe. Tony had to keep his calm facade as he watched the three men leave the cafe and also had to keep an eye out for any stray fries that Freddy decided to throw at him, following on their small food fight. The waitres was not entirely pleased with them, but once Tony's charming smile was sent her way all was soon forgotten, and when she came back with their bill her phone number was hidden underneath it, she caught Tony's eyes and blushed fumbling with the coffee machine. Both Bandit and Freddy looked at him in awe, as all he did was smile at the woman.

Tony shrugged with a grin and pocketed it, feeling the edge of the napkin as he did so, which made the grin on his lips become slightly more forced. He threw the money he owed onto the table adding a slightly generous tip, said his goodbyes and made his way to his newly found apartment. He was glad that he didn't have to use his own for this operation a he knew that at some point his 'friends' would be paying him a visit, and he would rather not put the neighbours that he had come to like in danger.

He took the stairs two at a time as the elevator was 'out of order' still and smiled at the elderly man who lived to door to him as he exited his apartment. The man returned his smile and shook his head as he watched his young neighbour bound past him with those long legs of his.

"I looked like that when I was younger." He turned around slowly to avoid hurting his hip, he looked at the portrait of him and his dearly departed wife, looking at her he chuckled as he imagined her giving him her signature look that meant he was talking crap. "I did!" He protested, laughing to himself as he remembered that he was going out, he took one last look at the woman he had loved his entire life and shut the door.

Tony had opened the door to his apartment faster than he ever had before and fished the napkin out of his pocket, eagerly opening it but scowled when it turned out to be the waitress' phone number, he threw it in the trash knowing that he would never call her and quickly opened the napkin that he most wanted to read.

_Danny says hi _Tony's eyebrows furrowed, what kind of message was this supposed to be? He did in fact realise that this meant that his suspicions about the guy being a cop of some sort was correct. And this guy knew his partner, it looked like he was going to have to give Danny a call. He walked over to his bedroom, going into the bathroom and opening up the medicene cabinet. He pulled out a packet of aspirin and popped the third one from the eft, tipping the miniscule microphone that was enclosed onto his palm. He put the aspirin back and pulled out some sleeping pills finding the earpiece that was hidden there. He put clipped the mic to his shirt and put the earpiece in before heading back into his bedroom and double checking for bugging equipment in his apartment, he also shut the curtain on the window just in case.

Tony reached into his bedside table and pushed a small button that activated both the earpiece and mic, while calling Danny at the same time. It took less than two rings for him to pick up.

"Look's like you got Gibbs' message."

Tony scoffed. "As if I could miss it, it wasn't exactly a code was it? _Danny says hi. _I think I'm a good enough detective to realise he was talking about you. Who was that guy anyway? Gibbs who? And what happened to keeping thi mission on the down low, I thought this was just me, you and the Cheif. We don't need anyone else muscling in."

"Glad you think so DiNozzo." Tony closed his eyes as he realised that he was on loudspeaker.

"Well hello to you too, Mr Napkin Guy." Tony heard muffled snorts, presumable from Danny, although there could be a few people there as it sounded like there was more than one, although both stopped pretty quickly. "I don't know if you've even been undercover before, Napkin, but it doesn't look good for another cop to come and have a nice chat without being arrested. The rest of the guys were in the bar across the road, anyone could have seen and we're lucky that Bandit and Freddy are really dense, the way you kept staring at me. I mean, I don't go for guys in fact I got this cute waitress' number-"

"I'm from NCIS." Gibbs got fed up with Tony's rambling and cut him off.

"Navy cops?" Tony scoffed. "There were no dead sailors."

"They were found after you went in." Danny interjected.

"I've got two dead marines on this case, DiNozzo, so you're gonna do exactly what I say." It was lucky that Gibbs was not present to see Tony's face as he gave his order otherwise Tony would have recieved a headslap. "You're gonna tell your bos that you found one of the newer up and coming dealers. That should grab his attention. He's probably going to want to run a few checks on me, and then he's gonna want to meet me. I need you to set this up, can you do that DiNozzo?"

"Let me get this straight," Tony paused. "you want me to trick him into meeting you, and then you're gonna what? Ambush him? Look this guy isn't an idiot, he'll know your a cop when he first sets eyes on you."

"Like he did you?" Gibbs almost growled.

Tony gritted his teeth, "I'm a bit of a special case."

"You got that right." Danny muttered, with a hint of pride mixed with the mocking tone.

"What I'm saying is," Tony continued, ignoring Danny's comment. "that we need to get some actual hard core evidence on this guy before trying to arrest him." Tony's eyes fell on his computer. "And I think I know just where we can get it from."

/

Gibbs couldn't believe his ears when the kid completly brushed off his plan, he would admit that it was not the best he'd ever thought of but he'd spent the last few days with idiots one and two, who could blame him for being a little more irritable than usual.

He found himself increasingly impressed as DiNozzo outlined his plan, although this was with complete reluctance. He wasn't used to people not listening to him, and part of him found it refreshing that a 'subordinate' had the guts to not only disregard his plan, but challenge him by presenting his own which Gibbs found was significantly better with what seemed like little effort. Gibbs turned away to hide his wry smile, he wanted to see how well DiNozzo would be able to withstand the full force of what Abby had appropriately named his 'Death Glare'.

It had taken him a few years to get the glare completely perfect but for Gibb it was one his more failproof weapons. He had ued it on his two probies when they had snorted at DiNozzo calling him 'Mr Napkin Guy' they had quickly looked away as their laughter cut off. He turned the glare towards where they were both cowering in the corner, both promptly recoiled, paled and tried to hide behind each other resulting in them both falling over.

Gibbs hid a smirk, he still had it.

* * *

**Like it, dislike it? I hope I'm not going too fast for some people but this chapter wanted to be written so I gave in. **


	7. Initiation

**Chapter Seven.**

** Initiation **

Tony made his way to his new boss' place, he had been phoned late last night with instructions for the day. It was unexpected because he was used to just talking with Bandit, but he supposed that since he was working his way up the 'ladder' he was going to be given different things to do.

It wasn't like he didn't know the reality of what he was doing, it had admittedly been about a year since his last undercover operation but Tony knew what he was doing. He was one of those adaptable people that wouldn't be out of place wherever you put him, so this was simple for him. He was glad that however, that he would never have to wear one of those horrible tracksuits again, they clashed horribly with his dignity.

He straightened out his suit jacket and adjusted his tie in a shop window, winking to himself as he got a good look at the car that was following him. He was sure that it was one of Juio's cars, no one from NCIS would be following him after the lovely phone call conversation yesterday.

Tony casually strolled down the street as if he didn't have a care in the world, double checking his gun was in it's holster. It had been delivered to his door that morning and he knew better than to question it.

He finally arrived at his destination, pushing open the door and casually winking at the car to let it know that he'd known he was being followed. No need to let his 'boss' think he was stupid, how would he ever gain his trust then?

Tony recieved a few curious stares as he entered a bigger room, filled with a table in the middle and a dozen chairs. There were a few people already sitting down but most were standing and talking to each other.

"Anthony!" Someone shouted joyfully. He turned to see one of the men he'd hung out with in the bar. He attempted to remember his name but it was slipping further and further from his mind. He went with a guess.

"Dario?" He was right. Dario grinned and slapped him on the back, talking a mile a minute and leading him to the table.

"I knew it was only a matter of time, my friend." He spoke with a mixture of American and Italian accent. "Just a matter of time. I could tell just by looking at you that you'd go far here." Tony didn't really appreciate being told he looked like a dirtbag but he put a wide smile on his face and sat down.

He knew that something important was going to happen soon, he could only imagine that they were going to plan their next move. He leaned back in his chair feigning disinterest and boredom while his eyes remained sharp as they looked over and memorised everyone in the room.

Dario was still talking to him, but Tony knew that all he needed was a nod or grunt to keep talking. It was people like Dario that made Tony's job so easy, no one was going to pay attention to him while he was entertaining a chatterbox, except to give him looks of pity. It seemed that Dario was well known for being very talkative, Tony took this in stride and joined in the conversation with relish. Delighting in the looks people were giving him, exasperated with knowing they had to put up with another one.

Tony was just starting to go into detail about a story of him playing football when the door opened. Everyone immediately quietened and sat down leaving Julio Fernando to sit down last. He looked around, basking in his own self importance before speaking.

Each man gave their individual report and when it came to Tony, Fernando smirked.

"This, my friends, is Anthony DiCabre." There were a few mutters. "I hope you all get to know him, he's part of the family now." Tony grinned and bowed his head respectively to the man sitting at the head of the table. "Tony here has managed to procure the placement of warehouse sixteen." The man sitting across from Tony snapped his head forward to look at him, his eyes narrowing. Tony assumed that this was the man who he'd taken the job from. Fernando smiled at Tony, it was more of a smirk but the attempt seemed sincere. "Well done."

"Thank you." Tony smirked cockily, knowing he had the backing of the leader and looked around at everyone else at the table who were suddenly avoiding his eyes, Tony know the power that came with being the favourite and knew it would make his job so much easier. Fernando gave him an amused look, almost as if he reminded him of someone and went on the Dario who immediately babbled on about the job he'd done.

Once the meeting was over, Tony was asked to stay behind. Dario gave him a smile and a wink before leaving. Fernando came over and stood before him. Tony knew that Fernando was trying to give off waves of dominance but he couldn't find it within himself to properly suck up to him. Tony knew that with little effort he could have Fernando eating out of the palm of his hand, and that by the end of the day he would probably be wrapped around his little finger, all under the impression that it was the other way around.

Since his plan was already in action he might as well take down a many dirtbags as possible. To do that, he needed to get closer to the heart of the operation, the person that knew everything that was going on. Julio Fernando.

Cut off the head and the body flounders.

"You did good." He patted him on the shoulder, gripping it and steering him into an adjoining room. It looked like a study, a desk was in front of them, a high chair behind it, obviously Fernando's in an attempt to assert his position. There were two bookshelve on either side of the room, the books looked like they hadn't been touched in a long time, as there was a miniscule amount of dust on them. There were no windows, the only light came from the frankly alarming ceiling light, which was massive and very unimpressive with how gaudy it looked.

Tony looked back at Fernando as he walked around him to get to his chair behind the desk. He motioned for Tony to take the chair in front of him, which he did, stretching his legs in front of him to get more comfortable. He watched as Fernando flicked through a folder on his desk, looking up at Tony once or twice.

He clearly wanted to Tony to ask, but with a grin he shook his head and stared at the ceiling, just listening to Fernando rustling. Instead of getting annoyed, Fernando did what Tony knew he would. He laughed and gave in.

He slid the folder over to Tony who picked it up with interest. He saw pictures of the warehouse that he had managed to aquire, another picture showed a number of weapons and the next showed blueprints.

"Anthony, I'm sure you are aware of where we're going with this. The warehouse you procured for us has valuable information stored in this room." He showed the room on the blueprints. "We had attempted to go in before, but that didn't exactly go to plan." Fernando shrugged. "Never mind about that." He waved his hand. "I want you to get it for me." Tony glanced away from the blueprints, looking at Fernando's face. He looked like he really wanted the information and Tony knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to gain more trust and maybe sneak a look before handing it over.

He picked up the folder, stood up and tucked it into his suit pocket as it wasn't too bulky and just the right size for his pocket.

"Leave it to me."

Fernando came around the desk and patted his shoulder, looking at him with trusting eyes. "I knew I could count on you."

* * *

**AN: So the plan is in action, all with be explained in the future chapters as I'm sure a few of you are confused. Anyway, so Tony has a new mission but what is this important information? You'll have to wait and see. **

**Should see more Tony/Gibbs interaction in the next chapter but I haven't actually written it yet so we'll have to see what happens. **

**Review? **


	8. Time to Act

**Sorry for the wait but this story just did not want to be written, but I managed to find a plot bunny hiding in the dark recesses of my mind and this is what I came up with. I want to thank everyone that reviewed they really mean a lot to me and make me smile which of course prompts me to write more. Hopefully I haven't let you down with this chapter, hope you all like it. It has a bit more action that usual. **

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Time to Act**

It didn't take long for Tony to call Danny when he had been let out, he had to get to a safe place first where no one could eavesdrop on the conversation so he headed back to his apartment, not fearing being followed because at this point he was sure no one had anything on him.

He whistled as he walked home, gaining a few appreciative looks from women and a few head nods from men who recognised the tune. He jogged up the stairs casually, searching his pockets for his keys and opened the door quickly.

"DiNozzo." Tony grabbed the gun out of his pocket and pointed it at the voice, sighing when it turned out to be Gibbs.

"Gibbs." Tony put his gun back in its holster. "Don't you think it's a bit risky coming here?"

"Nah." Gibbs shrugged, standing up from his place on the couch. "Figured you were good enough to not be under surveillance anymore." He didn't tell Tony about the search he'd done of the apartment as soon as he'd gone in.

Tony nodded and walked into the kitchen. "You want anything?"

"Coffee." Tony grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and went to the fridge for milk, almost bumping into Gibbs as he was stood in front of it. Tony stopped moving and leant against the counter. "Okay, so what's with the visit? Or did you just miss me?"

Gibbs smirked. "Heard something interesting today."

When he didn't say anything more Tony waved his hands in a gesture for him to continue.

"And?"

"And apparently the Red's have been planning a break in, in one of the warehouses down the pier."

"How did you know about that?" Tony asked bewildered, as he'd only found out about that a few days ago.

Gibbs smirked again. "I know a guy." The kettle clicked to show that it had finished and Tony continued making the coffee, adding creamers to his and nothing to Gibbs' having a feeling that he wasn't a man to enjoy the flavours. He had the feeling he liked his coffee black and he was right as Gibbs took a sip and decided it was decent.

He sipped his own coffee feeling content with knowing that there was someone who had his back in his situation, he wasn't used to it. Danny was always there but they both knew that he wasn't the best cop he could be, and he didn't try. He was mostly there for companionship and so that there wasn't a need for extra paperwork.

"I'm going in." Tony commented casually, feeling Gibbs' eyes lock onto his face as he looked down at his cup. "There's something in that warehouse that Jose really wants."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No, but I'll find out soon enough." Both of them were hoping it was something incriminating enough to bring down the entire organisation, but it seemed too good to be true. Tony knew that it sounded like a straight-forward enough job but there was a nagging feeling in his heart that something was going to go wrong.

"Hey." Tony looked up to catch Gibbs' bright blue eyes. "It'll be fine, you've done stuff like this before."

"How do you know that?" Tony grinned.

"I know a guy."

* * *

Gibbs went back to the station after he had finished his talk with DiNozzo, he wanted to help the kid but it was proving difficult as the situation he'd gotten himself into escalated. He knew that this information could be the key to ending the investigation and he wanted that for himself, DiNozzo and the family members of all who the Red's had killed.

"You." He pointed to one of the receptionists. "Get me the Chief." Under Gibbs' hard stare he immediately scurried off, Gibbs walked into the squad room, eyes immediately finding Danny as he lounged at his desk, not seemingly worried that his partner was in ever increasing danger.

Gibbs kicked the chair out from underneath him, quelling his rage as Danny yelped and fell to the floor, it felt good to hurt someone. His eyes snapped up as movement alerted him to the presence of his two idiots.

"You two." He pointed at them. "Get Abby and Ducky on the phone." They bumped into each other as they tried to go in opposite directions. Gibbs rolled his eyes and wondered what felt like the fifteenth time what he did to deserve those two. He must have been someone awful in a previous life.

Danny finally got up on the floor, rubbing his ass where he fell on it. Gibbs hoped it left a bruise.

"WHat are you doing?" He snarled as he saw who knocked him off his chair.

"What are _you _doing? Your partners out there all by himself, and you don't even check in? Do you even care?" Gibbs stepped closer with every word until they were face to face, spit flying in Danny's.

"Do you?" Gibbs stopped.

"Yeah, yeah I do." Danny was breathing heavily, he moved away from Gibbs and walked over to his desk, picking up a file that he thrust into Gibbs' chest just as the Chief came over.

"Gibbs? My office." Gibbs didn't appreciate being told what to do, but he knew better than to piss off someone you wanted help from, last time he did that it ended badly for everyone involved.

He glared at Danny before moving past, ignoring Idiots one and two as he walked into the Chief's office. He stood impatiently waiting for the Chief to sit down.

"DiNozzo's in trouble." He told him.

Chief's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

"My gut."

* * *

Tony walked into the warehouse, knowing exactly where he was supposed to be going having memorised all routes in and out of the place. He didn't want to be in here longer than he had to. He stopped as he heard a noise behind him.

Turning around quickly, he reached for his gun and levelled it in front of him.

"Who's there?" He cocked the gun. "Show yourself."

There was a short laugh followed by a gunshot, Tony dove to the ground hurrying over to the nearest cover. A few more bullets passed him, making him duck his head as to not be hit. He determined that there was two or three shooters and raised his head to get a better look, regretting it when bullets flew overhead. He thought himself lucky when they turned out to not have very good aim, he raised his head again, managing to land a hit on one of the unknown marksmen.

He heard a door bang open from somewhere in front of him, knowing that it was one of the fire exits opening, he could only hope it wasn't another enemy. Luck seemed to be on his side as he saw silver hair peeking from behind a pillar.

It was Gibbs.

He fired at the two remaining shooters, Tony heard a cry of pain that meant that he'd hit one of them and raised his head, aiming at the other. He saw a shoe from behind a crate and kept his gaze on it as he came out from behind his hiding place, nodding to Gibbs he noticed that he'd already seen as well.

They moved in unison towards the shoe, Tony gripped his gun tighter as it twitched, moving so that it was covered along with the rest of the mans body, but it was too late. He'd been seen.

Tony went one way while Gibbs went the other and they trapped the guy without him knowing. Rounded the corner of the crate Tony noticed that the shooter's attention was fixed on Gibbs and disarmed him before he could take a shot, he slid the gun away from his hand and grabbed the back of the guy's shirt as his legs tensed in a way that looked like he was about to run.

"Not so fast." He said, pushing him against the crate while Gibbs checked him for any other weapons. They caught each others eyes and nodded. Tony was aware that they made a better team than he ever expected, the gruff marine was not exaclty his first choice in partner and he knew he was the same for him, but he knew that they got each other and that was something he really needed at this point.

It was something so rare that he knew it was be tough giving it up.

Once it became clear that he had no other weapons on him, Tony let go and moved back a bit knowing that there was no way he would try to run with Gibbs gun pointing at him. Gibbs threw a wallet at him and he opened it to see that the man's name was Greg Hubert.

"So Greg, want to tell me what you're doing here?" Tony asked casually, leaning against the wall behind him and giving the impression that this was something he did everyday.

Greg didn't seem to want to say anything, he was looking between the two men seemingly deciding who he would be able to take on and he ran towards Tony. Well he would have if Gibbs hadn't grabbed him and thrown him back down, his blue eyes blazing.

Tony hoped that look would never be directed towards him.

* * *

**Review?**


	9. Warehouse Excitement

**Chapter Nine**

**Warehouse Excitement**

Tony kept one eye on Hubert as he took the blueprints out of his pocket, although he'd scanned them earlier there was a code on the corner that he needed to get into the safe. He walked away from Gibbs knowing the other man knew what he was doing and found the wall in which the safe was hidden. He banged on it slightly as he'd been told and watched as the wall opened up slightly.

He reached his hand in and pulled the safe towards him, inserting the code he grinned as he saw what was inside. He turned to face Gibbs, his smile dropping as he noticed someone behind him. Tony was about to call towards him but Gibbs had seen his expression changed and with speed only a marine could possess he turned and shot at the assailant behind him.

Tony let out a sigh of relief as his eyes scanned the man he had come to trust and then turned his attention to the rest of the warehouse, where there is one there is always another. This was a lesson Tony had learned the hard way.

When he was satisfied that no one else was going to sneak up on them, he took the package out of the safe and tucked it into his jacket pocket. His eyes darted around once more and he felt his heart stop as he realised there was a security camera and it was pointed straight at him.

He ran over to Gibbs and tugged Hubert's arm up, dragging him along behind him. His panicked movements alerted Gibbs to the danger and he withdrew his side arm once more.

"They know." Tony hissed, keeping Hubert in a tight grip as he tried to pull away. Gibbs nodded and picked up his cell phone.

Tony led the way back through the warehouse, muscles tight and ready to attack as each shadow looked like a possible threat. Both men looked at each other as shouting was heard from behind them, Gibbs started hissing instructions down the phone as someone on the other end answered. He cursed his luck as he realised it was his two junior agents, he had hoped for DiNozzo's partner. But beggars can't be choosers and they were not in the best situation.

He cast a sidelong glance at his young friend, someone he knew would be able to watch his six. If they got out of this alive he was damn well making sure Tony was coming with him.

A bullet grazed the wall next to his head and he immediately returned fire knowing instinctively that he had hit his mark. He shuffled over to DiNozzo who was currently reloading, his hand never let Hubert's shirt making sure he was down and not going anywhere.

"Gibbs, I think we're outnumbered."

Gibbs smirked. "Ya think, DiNozzo." He shot one of the men who was aiming for Tony and then another who popped out from behind a crate. He grabbed Hubert's arm, motioning for Tony to grab the other and together they pulled him backwards, hearing a scream Gibbs looked down and saw that Hubert had managed to get himself shot in the leg from all the struggling he was doing, the bullet was probably aiming for one of them so he couldn't help but be grateful.

He pulled the two men around the corner and together they made their way to an exit, before they could get anywhere close they were stopped by Fernando, who was staring at Tony with angry eyes.

"Anthony, what are you doing?" Tony swallowed and felt the pressure of the package in his jacket pocket. He kept his gun firmly in his hand as the bodyguards behind Fernando shifted slightly.

Tony cast his eyes to the side quickly to see Gibbs was in a defensive stance, ready and willing to shoot when needed. This gave Tony the courage he needed to reply.

He gave a tight grin and opened his mouth, before he could get a word out there was noise behind Fernando, the bodyguards immediately began firing and the poor police officer fell down in pain. Tony took one of them out while Gibbs took out the other.

Now that he knew that backup had arrived Tony knew that there was no way Fernando was getting out of this one, and with the evidence he'd collected from the safe he was going away for a long time. Fernando seemed to notice this as well as he raised his gun and fired at Tony who dived to the floor as Gibbs took aim and shot Fernando in the arm.

He cried out and fell to the floor the gun clattering loudly as his hand failed to grip it. Tony got up from his place on the floor and picked up the gun, grinning as he turned to Gibbs and a fellow police officer made his way over to them. Another two officers picked Fernando up and dragged him through the warehouse to be patched up and then taken to the station.

Tony knew he was finally free now, nothing like a two week operation to get the adrenaline flowing, admittedly he'd thought he'd have to do it for longer, but the DiNozzo charm never fails to work it's magic.

He had just started to grin when he felt something rip through the skin around his ribs. His eyes widened as the bang that followed was immediately registered as a gunshot.

His eyes flickered as black spot began to invade his vision and it was without a doubt that he saw concern in Gibbs eyes as he rushed over to crouch next to his fallen body, when he'd fallen he wasn't quite sure but as he struggled to breathe it was with a lot of pain that he managed to point to where he was sure the shooter was still standing.

"Go get 'em boss."

Gibbs nodded and barked at someone else to chase the man, Tony was shocked when he realised that Gibbs was planning on staying with him, and through the black haze that was threatening to engulf him he felt a head pat. He smiled as he gave into unconsciousness.

The next time he woke up it was to a nurse leaning over him, changing his IV. Normally he would have taken a peek down her shirt but he couldn't actually move his head very well, he felt sluggish and completely tired. His eyes blinked wearily as he noticed someone sat in the chair next to his bed, Gibbs was sat there with his eyes closed.

The nurse left before noticing he was awake so he didn't feel afraid that he was going to be prodded with needles, he turned his head to the side feeling a little drunk and noticed a coffee cup on the table next to his bed.

He smirked slightly and tried to sit up, after a few minutes of struggling he managed it. Feeling proud of himself he reached for the cup and just as he wasn't about to grab it he was hit over the head softly. Jumping a bit, he turned his head to quickly and felt light-headed falling back onto the bed as he watched a hand grab the cup he was reaching for and his eyes followed it to Gibbs face.

He winced as he sat back up, waiting for the gruff marine to say something.

His mouth dropped open as it seemed that from out of nowhere Gibbs managed to produce a second cup of coffee, he handed it over and without a word gestured for Tony to drink it.

Taking a sip he realised that it was exactly the way he liked it.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the long wait for this, hope it meets everyone's expectations/hopes. This is either the second to last chapter or the third, let's just see where this takes me :) Thanks for sticking with me for this long.


	10. Breaking Free

**Chapter Ten**

**Breaking Free**

Tony wasn't that comfortable with being in the hospital, there was something about them that reminded him of horrible times, it might have been the smell, it might have been the doctors but whatever it was Tony wasn't hoping to stay there much longer. He had already been there for three day and that was longer than was really possible for him.

He pressed the buzzer near the side of his bed, wincing as it pulled the skin surrounding his wound. He made sure to manage his expression so that the pain wouldn't show when the nurse came in, she would never let him go if he was still in pain.

To be completely fair Tony had never managed to stay in the hospital for the recommended amount of time, there was no way that this was going to stay this time. He put on his most charming smile when the door opened, it dropped when he saw that it was Gibbs. He didn't know how he was going to do this with Gibbs in the room, he was just going to have to ignore him when the nurse came in.

"How you doing DiNozzo?" Gibbs took a sip of his coffee, sitting down on the chair next to the bed.

"Better." Tony smiled, stomach growling loudly. He wished he had some pizza instead of the terrible hospital food. A knock at the door caught both mens attention and as the nurse came in, Tonys plan went into action. He brought back his charming smile and glanced at her name tag.

"So Kathy. How am I doing?" Kathy blushed as she went about changing his IV and took the clipboard from the front of his bed.

"It looks like you're doing just fine." She said shyly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she replaced the clipboard.

Tony smiled once more. "Well that's great, so does that mean I can leave?"

Kathy blushed once more as the damn DiNozzo smile was directed her way once more, why was it every time Tony was in hospital she was his nurse? Secretly she loved the attention, but he could make her do crazy things. Like right now, both of them knew that she was going to let him sign himself out early. She had a soft spot for the handsome cop and didn't even bother to hide it.

"I'll go get your forms." Gibbs jaw dropped at how quickly DiNozzo got his way, there wasn't even a fight from the young nurse. Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the celebrating DiNozzo and smirked. He didn't know what was in store for him.

"Speaking of forms." Gibbs stood up and took some paperwork out of his jacket, he placed them on Tony's bedside table and almost smiled at the bewildered look on the young mans face.

"What's this?" Tony asked, propping himself up a bit more so that he could reach over and grab the file. He realised that Gibbs wasn't going to tell him so he decided to read it for himself, opening the file his mouth dropped open a bit when he realised what it was.

"Gibbs?" He looked up but the older man had disappeared. Looking back down at the file he couldn't help but smile and when Kathy came back in with the forms he signed happily, not wanting to waste anymore of his time stuck in a bed. Getting up gingerly, he tried not to wince at the slight pain he could feel from his injury, he knew that Kathy would quite happily keep him longer so he gathered his things and walked out of the room.

Catching a cab was easy and he had soon reached his destination. Walking into the precinct he headed towards the captains office, he didn't want to know where Danny was and why he hadn't helped him out in that warehouse so he kept his eyes forward. Knocking on the door softly he entered as soon as he heard the okay to do so.

"DiNozzo! Out of hospital already? I knew they wouldn't be able to keep you long, but you know that you're still on sick leave right? There's no way you're gonna be allowed back this early." Captain stroked his chin as he looked at the younger man.

"I know." Tony smiled. "I'm not here for that, I'm here to resign effective immediately." The captains legs dropped from where they had been crossed on the desk in front of him. His best man had just resigned, he almost wanted to cry. Almost.

"Are you sure Tony? Where will you go from here?" He asked, all smiles gone from his voice.

"I've been offered another position." Tony didn't want to elaborate, he just handed over his gun and badge smiled at the Captain once more and left the office. He spent the rest of the day going around to everyone he had ever talked to and some that he hadn't and said his goodbyes.

"You know you're always welcome back here right DiNozzo?" The captain had come to say his final goodbye, Danny was standing close behind. The frown on his face telling Tony all he needed to know.

"Thanks Cap, I'll keep that in mind." The captain dropped his hand on Tony's shoulder and squeezed it in a farewell fashion, thankfully not his bad one. As soon as he left Danny approached.

"Tony? You're leaving? Just like that. Some naval cop comes in and just steals you from us?" Danny was hurt, he had known Tony for so long and now they were being separated.

Tony wasn't surprised that Danny had figured out where he was headed, if anyone would it was him. They were close but Tony had lost some trust in his partner, they hadn't been running as smoothly as they had a year ago and Tony knew that it was time for him to move on, he had been here for eighteen months already and it was time to try something new.

Becoming a Fed was definitely something new.

"It's not like that." Tony said. "It's time man, we knew it was coming. I'm sorry I couldn't have given you more warning but I got the offer earlier this morning and I couldn't say no. I'm gonna be Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Sounds good doesn't it?"

Danny had to smile. "Yeah, special alright. Special Ed." Tony laughed and punched his shoulder, forgetting that his own was a bit worse for wear. The two embraced like brothers saying their final goodbyes, and Tony knew that it would be a long time before he saw his former partner again.

"Goodbye." Tony smiled once more and headed out.

Danny went back to his desk, he sighed as he saw that Tony had cleaned his out. When he had done so, Danny didn't know but it saddened him that he just lost his partner, his friend. His eyebrows furrowed as he saw something on his desk that wasn't his, it was wrapped up and his name was on the tag so he ripped open the paper and his eyebrows shot up as he saw what was inside.

Tube socks.

Tony had made it back to his apartment, the door was ajar when he arrived so he dropped into a neutral position so that he could defend himself from any attacks, pushing the door open a little more he stood up properly when he noticed that it was only Gibbs. Wait a sec-

"How did you get in here?" He asked, shutting the door behind him and examining the locks.

"You should really get better ones. The crime in DC isn't as bad as here but still." Gibbs smirked as he noticed the look of complete confusion on DiNozzos face. "I want you at the navy yard at 0700 Monday morning reporting for duty, your paperwork will be cleared by then." Gibbs snatched the file out of Tony's hand put it back in his jacket, not even bothering to check if Tony had filled it out, he knew he had.

"On it boss." The two shook hands as Gibbs walked out, got in his car that had appeared out of nowhere and drove back to Washington, leaving Tony with a smile on his face as he put on a movie. Magnum PI.

**THE END**


End file.
